Get ready for some twee twinkling on the Croisette -- Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom is set to open the 2012 Cannes Film Festival! Last year's opener, Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, went on to enjoy a rousingly successful theatrical run on its way to a Best Picture nomination; Anderson's comedy, about a pair of pre-teen lovebirds on the lam in 1960s New England, will open stateside just over a week after its May 16 Cannes debut and marks his return to live-action film after his most recent film, the Oscar-nominated Fantastic Mr. Fox.
In a statement announcing the premiere, Cannes head Thierry Frémaux referenced Fellini and Renoir while calling Anderson a 'brilliant and inventive filmmaker'; not too shabby for a guy who most recently followed in the footsteps of some of cinema's brightest directors by helming a pair of car commercials for Hyundai! (Said ads are classic Anderson, though, through and through -- can't quite say the same for this week's other ad director-for-hire, Darren Aronofsky.)
Moonrise Kingdom stars youngsters Jared Gilman as Sam and Kara Hayward as his best gal Suzy, along with Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton, Ed Norton, Frances McDormand, Jason Schwartzman, Bob Balaban, and Harvey Keitel.
[Deadline]